Toad
by TaleTerror
Summary: Twist to a few classic fairy tales combined.
1. Chapter 1

**So I planned to get this up last night because yesterday in Australia it was Tell A Fairy Tale Day... And I thought this would be perfect for that occasion hence why I tried to get it ready in time. But I'm not very good with deadlines.**

******Thanks to my beta sparkles151092**

**Hope you like this, it's just a bit of fun :)**

**TOAD**

When Bella was a little girl she went into the woods to play with her friend Jessica, who dared her to eat a mushroom from the edge of a pond. Not one to back down from a dare, Bella ate the mushroom to spite her friend and prove to her that she wasn't afraid of anything. Jessica couldn't believe that Bella would do such a disgusting thing and said "No boy will ever want to kiss you! Once I tell everyone what you did, I'll be the prettiest girl in school!"

From that day forth, marked the end of their friendship. True to her word, Jessica told everyone in their class what she had done and was teased and mocked by all the boys saying she had 'cooties'.

As Bella grew older and went through puberty, year by year she developed what seemed to be severe acne. Although, she began to realise that it wasn't acne that covered her skin and nor was it warts. So early one morning, before most of the town awoke, Bella's father took her to the doctor. He was most intrigued by her skin condition, but as he had never come across a patient like Bella, he didn't know and couldn't find the cause or the treatment for what was growing all over her body. Unable to help, he diagnosed her with what he termed "toad's skin" and sent them home.

Bella was so upset and ashamed of the way she looked, she tried every treatment she could think of to try and get rid of the skin condition. She washed her body with soap every day and scrubbed her skin raw until it bleed. She gave herself full body facials and even whipped up home remedies that her mother once made. She tried taking herbal medicine and then started using any kind of chemical substance suitable to use on her skin to somehow kill the growth and prevent it from getting worse; rash cream, betadine for infection, even wiped methylated spirits over her skin. When they didn't work she even went on the pill because she had convinced herself her hormones were only explanation left for causing her condition. But to her disappointment nothing seemed to work.

For the remaining half of her second last year at school, Bella began distancing herself from Angela, her only true friend that stuck around throughout her transformation. Even though it hurt her to do it, there was no doubt that she wanted to save as many people from the kind of humiliation she was being subjected to. She didn't understand why she was turning out this way but she didn't want to feel guilty about trying to keep her friends around knowing they were uncomfortable.

_Everywhere she went, Bella felt on edge knowing that all eyes were always on her, staring unashamedly at her condition. If she felt this uncomfortable, then she knew beside her, Angela would definitely feel it too. She didn't want her friend to endure the residual ridicule just for sticking by her side. Bella knew deep down Angela was a very loyal friend and would try to stick by her through thick and thin because that's simply what best friends were for. But this was too much to ask of another person. A normal person that shouldn't be brought down by her misfortunes. _

"_Angela?" Bella said as they approached her locker. _

"_Hmm?" Angela turned and leaned against the side of her locker in acknowledgement of her speaking._

_Bella kept her eyes down and tightened her hold around the books she carried against her chest, as if they provided her with protection._

"_I don't want you to hang around with me any more." She said abruptly. Before Angela could say anything she continued on. _

"_I appreciate all you've done for me as a friend, believe me I can't thank you enough for that but it's for your own good."_

_She refused to look Angela in the eye._

"_Bella.." Angela said it in such a hurt whisper. But she had to do it. _

_This was the best thing for Angela. She shouldn't have to feel guilty or like she let her friend down when she might have eventually stoped hanging around with her. High school is definitely a cruel place that could go down one of two paths. You could be part of the lucky few who breezes through with no dramas. Although more commonly you'd end up on the other end where it's the shit hole you had to endure depending on where you were ranked in the social hierarchy. If Angela had any chance of breezing through this time, it was certainly not by her side and Bella knew it. _

"_Please. Just go." She turned and twisted her locker combination into the pad lock on her locker._

_The seconds past by until she felt Angela turn and walk away. _

Even though it had been difficult for her to let Angela go as her only friend, she now had to deal with not seeing her father. They weren't close to begin with but it showed that he was uncomfortable and spent more time working than at home watching his football games. She knew he loved her but she was also glad that he wouldn't see her as she was.

At the end of the school year, Bella resolved that she couldn't stay in school any longer as her condition continued to progress each day and could not take the increasing pity and shame from staff, students and society. For her last year of high school, Bella home schooled herself; the memories of everyone as they stared and talked about her behind her back were just too much to bear. Not that it was ever really a secret, their whispered conversations could still be heard clearly as she passed.

Others bullied her by putting acne cream in her locker or placing jars of bugs and insects on her table in the cafeteria. Mostly it was the jocks and the pretty girls in school that tormented her the most. Of course it was the group Jessica inevitably ended up in.

One day she had had enough and in a rage she threw the jars of insects at them, which broke, sending cockroaches, beetles and pray-mantis insects everywhere. She stormed out and never came back while the sound of her fellow student's screams could be heard from the insects swarming all around them.

Though some people weren't as mean, they would just look at her in pity every time she walked by, remembering her once as the blossoming Police Chief's daughter.

On her eighteenth birthday, Bella was unrecognisable. She no longer looked human, more like an alien from another planet.

Although she was pale underneath all the ugliness, her lumpy skin was tinted with an array of shades of green, worthy of true camouflage in a rain forest. She could no longer stand to be the way she was and many times had considered ending her life, for she had no understanding of why something as terrible as this was happening to her. A girl, pure at heart and kind.

That day, Bella ventured into the woods behind her house and found herself upon the edge of the pond she once visited. The rays of sun were shining through the canopy of the trees above, which glinted onto the surface of the pond. The sight of the strange mushrooms beside it made her angry and she stood, and trod on them until they were a crumpled heap and kicked the remains in the water. She wished now that they had been poisonous instead of turning her into... whatever she was. She kneeled over the edge of the pond and caught sight of her reflection. The first thing she saw was the large moist lumpy skin which covered her cheeks and forehead, surrounded by varying smaller sized lumps that covered the rest of her face, down her neck and across her collar bone. The rest of her body was covered with clothing as it always had been when the lumps started to grow, too embarrassed to show any part of her skin to anybody, even to herself.

It finally looked as if it was the worst it could get. There was hardly any part of her body that wasn't covered in the lumpy bumps apart from the palms of her hands, the bottoms of her feet and other more... intimate places to her god awful relief! Not to say that they weren't still tinged green, but if that's all they would get than she wasn't very worried.

It was when she noticed her eyes, lips and tongue that she knew her transformation from a human girl into an ugly, human green toad was complete. Her pale pink lips were no longer. She raised her fingers in disbelief to lightly touch them. They still remained smooth and plump but were now green just like everything else. Her tongue in the same condition, but a lighter shade of pea green.

The reflection of her eyes was her final undoing. In shock at how her previous, deep pools of hazel brown no longer stared back at her, but the eyes of what she turned into. A ring of green surrounded an orb of black; the eyes of a toad.

Against her skin, the white outline of her eye almost looked like eye liner and if she pictured buying contacts for Halloween, toad eyes would beat cat eyes any day. If she imagined hard enough, she would look like the perfect replica of a toad in costume, except only it was one she couldn't take off no matter what she tried, it was permanent.

Although the likeness between her and a real toad were contrastingly similar, her mind still remained that of a human. She could still speak and think intelligently as a human, she still walked up straight instead of hopping around as toad and her tongue didn't have a mind of its own when there were insects around and stayed in her mouth at all times.

As she knelt by the pond, her phone beeped to signal she had received a text. She pulled back from the pond and sat back on her heels to retrieve the phone from her pocket. 'You have 1 new message.'

_From: Charlie_

_To: Bella Swan_

_Happy Birthday Kiddo_

She stared down at the message in her hands. She hadn't physically talked to Charlie in the last couple of weeks because of her appearance. So she stayed in her room the majority of the time he was home and he would stay at the police station for a few more hours every night leaving her a series of notes that he had work to catch up on. There was no doubt she was drifting away from her father, more than they usually were from each other but now it was only all the time, resulting in contacting each other when needed and still that was rare. She would clean the house, do the laundry and cook Charlie's meals during the day when he wasn't home. She felt like Cinderella, except ugly. No prince, no fairy god mother, not even fury animals to keep her company.

_Who am I kidding? That's not even a fair comparison. Bloody bitch was lucky. I don't see a happy ever after in my future._

In return Charlie did all the errands out in public. Bella would write out a list of things they needed and he would get them for her. This also included buying tampons in the grocery shopping. The poor man, had to put up with such an awkward and difficult task, but it was necessary.

There was no doubt he felt guilty for not being able to do anything, Bella was his only child and she knew he would do anything for her in a normal situation like any father would. But this wasn't normal, not anything a father could expect, let alone know what to do about it. This wasn't even something Bella even knew could happen, she was just as much in the dark about this as he was. Though he did keep his promise not to tell Renee, she couldn't take the pity from her own mother, the way she fussed over her was ridiculous. As if the tragedy that Bella was going through personally affected her in some way and then the crying... heaven forbid that was only when she scraped her knee or broke her arm, somehow looking like a toad might push her mother over the edge.

So as she looked over the words her father had sent her, they only brought her more sorrow than joy today than they had on any other day. Tears gathered in her eyes and her lip trembled as all the pain and humiliation she was going through, finally came to the hilt of her emotional threshold. She took one look back down into the pond and cried to her heart's content. Letting all the feelings of being alone, being cut off from human interaction, and human affection come out in the sound of her cries and her tears unrelenting, rolling down her face.

**What did you think? Leave me a comment, it'll bring me great joy.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**I appreciate all of those that read this story and reviewed, followed or favoured it. I hope you stick around and see where it's going.  
**

**Thanks again to my Beta ********sparkles151092**

It was late in the afternoon when Bella woke next to the pond in the forest. Confusion clouded her mind as she woke. She had forgotten where she was. _And what am I doing here?_

Her face felt wet with tears and she wiped the trail marks with her hands until she encountered the moist bumps forever to remain on her cheeks. There was no getting rid of her tears and the reality of her situation unfortunately came back to the forefront of her mind. She was vaguely aware of having passed out from exhaustion due to all the crying she had done. Looking into the pond once again to wipe away her tear trails only to spot something shiny in the reflection of the water. She looked up into the canopy of trees above her to try and pinpoint the object but she could not see it.

Not wanting to spend the rest of her eighteenth birthday out in the forest she got up and left the spot by the pond and with one last look into the trees she headed back towards her house.

The next day was a surprisingly warm one in Forks; a rarity of its kind and Bella awoke to what would have been a glorious sunny day back in Arizona. But this heat was different now. This heat felt different in her skin. Once upon a time she would have woken up to her body in a sheen of sweat under her covers, but now there was no sweat. She felt dry and dehydrated like all the water had evaporated from her body. She needed water. In a rush to retrieve her shoes from under her bed, Bella subconsciously knew that no shower or tap water would give her relief of this kind of heat in her body. And so she ran through the back door and back out into the forest.

Bella pushed her way through the tall forest trees, desperate for water. The hot air was a lot thicker now that she was closed in and surrounded by the trees, the canopy over head trapping in the heat, burning the back of her throat and her lungs as she tried to breathe in the dry air.

She stopped to catch her bearings against a large tree. In her haste to get to water, she lost her way in which direction the little pond with the mushrooms were. With the changes to her body, her senses told her that her best chance of finding water were to her right. She let her senses lead her and along the way, tore off her flannelette pyjama top and through it, not caring where. She soon felt her body getting weaker, using all the energy she could muster just to keep her legs moving.

In her luck, she came across a large spring pond of fresh water. She stood by the edge and removed herself of her remaining clothing, including her bra and underwear. Nothing, not even her undergarments would get in the way of the water her body desperately needed. With all her clothes lying on the edge of the pond, she groaned at the cool sensation as inch by inch she slid her body into the water, fully submerging herself.

Her body cried out with sweet, sweet relief. Never had she ever felt so good, to be so cold. She could feel the water seep into the pores of her body, soaking it up and rehydrate her every cell, one by one. She bobbed up to the surface, her head re-emerging from below the water. She breathed a deep sigh of contentment, letting the serenity of her surroundings calm and sooth her of her previous anxiety. She would have to keep a close watch on the weather, so as not to be unprepared if this happened again. If it did, it would be too soon.

She forgot about the world she lived in. All the people, all the pressure that came with life as an adolescent; forgotten, as she relaxed in this secluded part of her forest. No one would ever find her here. No one had probably ever stepped foot in this little piece of paradise besides her. She lifted her hands to smooth her wet hair back behind her neck and just treaded in the water for some time.

The feeling of being completely unclothed in a pool of water aside from a bath was exhilarating. She had never skinny dipped or swam naked in her life. The feeling was completely freeing as she swam around, letting go of her inhibitions about her body and the way she looked. She could become quite accustomed to the feeling, although she always imagined herself sharing the experience with a significant other. The fantasy of her first love and experiencing that adrenaline that accompanied getting naked in front of someone for the very first time, would feel something like this. Completely free, comfortable and calm. If only she didn't look the way she did, she wouldn't mind the idea of doing that with someone. After all she'd been through; if she ever got her normal body back she would definitely appreciate it a whole lot more.

After a while Bella grew tired, the heat of the sun was getting to its highest coming close to noon and when the sun was at its hottest. There was no way she would survive in this heat without staying in the pool to keep her body hydrated, so she swarm to the far edge away from her clothes and lazed next to a rock that was sticking out of the water. She kept the greater part of her upper body in the water and laid her head and arms over the rock so she wouldn't sink and drown if she fell asleep.

Bella woke in the pond with the afternoon rays of sun glinting through the trees and flickering across the water. It rippled from her movements and made the water dance and sparkle like small diamonds all around her. The sun was setting and she'd never stuck around to find out what kind of predators lurked around after dark. Not wanting to find out, she swam to the edge and got out of the pond.

She felt physically hydrated, like her body was full of fresh water, making her skin plump and smooth. It was the best she'd ever felt. She bent down to pick up her clothes and froze, when she noticed a young man leaning next to a tree not very far from where she stood. He was tall and pale with messy bronze hair. He looked like a god. A marble statue chiselled to perfection. In her confused state she tilted her head and processed the situation.

'_What a weird place to put a statue. I'm sure that wasn't there before. Why would there be a statue in the forest? Don't be such an idiot Bella. So that must mean, here I am, standing fully naked in front of a boy. He can't be real though, he isn't moving. No he must be a figment of my imagination; I haven't physically spoken to anyone in a year. With my lack of human interaction I must have created my own perfect imaginary friend… I wonder if I can make him talk. I must be going insane… imaginary friends, please that's for five year olds. No I've finally gone loopy. I'm hallucinating. Yep, I can believe that.'_

"Hello."

Bella screamed and ran behind the nearest tree, big enough to shield her hideous naked body from the stranger. She gripped the tree, as if holding it close to herself would shield her from his sight even more so than just standing behind it. She laid her forehead on the bark and closed her eyes.

"This isn't happening, boys don't sparkle." Muttering to herself.

"Focus, I'm hallucinating, he's not really there."

_Nobody was supposed to ever find me here. What kind of person comes out into the forest? Especially a boy like him. On a day like this, well of course, of all days. Just my luck isn't it? If I were normal I'd be at a bloody beach not in a fucking forest talking to myself.'_

"Please, don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you." His voice was calm with a hint of humour.

Bella poked her head around the tree to look at the boy. She was still dripping wet from getting out of the water and her clothes were still near the edge where she dropped them when she ran. She looked the boy in the eyes and then glanced down to her clothes. He caught the movement of her eyes and slowly walked to her pile of clothes and picked them up, hesitantly stepping closer to the tree. He extended his arm and held out her clothes to her, his eyes only on her eyes. Bella covered her left breast with her hand and angled her body to reach out for her clothes.

"Thank you."

Bella being naturally shy didn't know whether her blush would come out as normal or not be visible at all. She hadn't had cause to blush for a very long time, if ever. She wasn't sure if it was the situation she found herself in or his intense stare. Like he was just as curious about her, as she was about him.

He stepped back to give her some privacy while she dressed.

When she was decent she walked back around the tree into the open, finally coming to terms that she was not the only being in the forest anymore. She hoped she looked ok; she must look like a slimy mess, with her hair soaked, dripping and her skin shiny from hydration. She didn't know what to say. What do you say to the first person you've come across in the last year? Let alone a very good looking boy…

"Are you alright? I didn't mean to frighten you." He had the sweetest smile on his face. His features were soft, hardly intimidating but the striking beauty of him as a whole person, head to toe, he was a little intimidating.

"Who are you?" She looked him up and down.

She had never seen him before, not even back when she was at school. But that was a whole year ago, she had no idea how much could have changed since then. He was proof of that in fact that she was possibly not the last person to move here and could have become the new spotlight of school gossip. Maybe they had forgotten all about her and focused on this creature in front of her. He didn't look to be any older than she was, though too handsome to be just a boy. Who wouldn't want to be around this guy, he practically had 'heart throb of forks' stamped on his forehead.

"I'm Edward Cullen." He even had a gorgeous name.

"And what are you doing here?"

"I was curious." That did not explain anything. If anything it made her all the more suspicious of his presence showing up out of the blue.

"Curious about what?" She asked as her brow furrowed on instinct. She didn't have this feeling often but she knew in her gut that this whole situation was out of the ordinary. After all this time, this boy just shows up in the woods and is curious. What is there to be curious about in the woods? Unless you expect to find something that you're curious about…

The light of the setting sun glinted off his shoulder as it cut through the breaks between the trees. Her eyes were drawn to the shimmering of his skin and she was all of a sudden remembering a familiar shimmer up above in the canopy just yesterday when she had been in the woods. She looked up at the tree tops as her thoughts lead her to one realization to the next.

_Could it be the same? Has he been watching me_?

Bella's thoughts continued down to the ground as she remembered kneeling by the pond after waking up from crying in the afternoon. She pointed her gaze back at him, waiting on his answer. She had a good feeling about these things though, an intuition. Did toads have intuition? She didn't know. If she had any when she was in the woods that day with Jessica, she might have guessed eating that mushroom wasn't a good idea and might have never done it in the first place. Pride be damned. But who would really think that something like what was happening to her would ever _actually_ happen.

Edward's gaze never faltered and held hers. "About you."

**Leave a comment if you enjoyed it! Leave a comment if you didn't I don't mind. If you want to know what happens next don't forget to Follow the story. Thanks again for reading!**

**TaleTerror x**


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